GPS World, February 2019
MAPPING Photo Forrest Briggs more than 400 points per square meter in a single pass The area we were to scan varied considerably in terrain and had very little to offer that was flat and open In fact to get to the site we had to pack several mountain horses with the UAV several sets of batteries and the scanner as they traveled down very steep terrain about 900 feet to the base of the hill to be scanned Weve said we can scan from nearly anything moving but weve never done it from a horse Well we werent actually scanning but it was pretty close Finding a suitable take off and landing area posed a challenge Due to vegetation and terrain only small areas could be scanned in a single flight as the vehicle would quickly leave line of sight LOS While LOS may not be an issue legally in this area it remains a real concern we always want our equipment to come home at the end of the mission We learned something we hadnt anticipated along this journey regarding weather The day would start out around 80 F around 2 p m it would rain and the rest of the day would close out much cooler Does this matter Yes if you are now wet and cold with several hours ahead of you It seems there is always some new surprise As the area was remote with no internet access the existing map data for mission planning had to be downloaded prior to visiting the site Each lidar mission was preceded by a scout flight using a small UAV to help ensure safety and appropriate flying height per flight line Situating the Base Projects like this always pose UAV AND LIDAR bound for the cloud forest
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